Travels in New Zealand and beyond, going back to 2003!
With the days dark and short here in New Zealand we jetted off for some warmth and sunshine in the Cook Islands, just a three to four hour flight from Auckland. We have never visited any of the Pacific Islands and it was with great delight that we touched down on the runway in Rarotonga,…
New Zealand moves to Level 2 tomorrow, after seven weeks in ‘lockdown’ due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Level 4 started with me away from my husband and three children, as a result of having recently returned from overseas and therefore needing to self-isolate for 14 days. I self-isolated in our holiday home, in rural Martinborough. My…
Autumn is fully upon us here in New Zealand. The temperatures are still warm and the days mostly sunny, just noticeably shorter. Like most of the world our country is currently ‘in lockdown’ as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our surf boards and other wet play gear is all laying redundant in the garage,…
The day after arriving in the Peak District, at my sister’s house, we set out on a crisp spring morning (a chilly 7°C) with my parents and sister’s partner. We took the train, from Chinley to Edale, so we could hike back across the hills, covering nearly 400(m) of elevation gain in 12km (nearly 8…
The second part of my visit to family in England (part one here) was spent in the Peak District, with my folks, sister and her partner. In a short three day, four night visit we enjoyed an 8 mile hike from Edale to Chinley (blog post here), I ran my first fell run at Herod…
Staying on the shore of Lake Windermere, at the YHA Ambleside, we spent three nights, and a few wonderful days, soaking up the beautiful scenery. We enjoyed hiking the countryside, taking a boat across the lake and visiting Beatrix Potter‘s 17th-century farmhouse ‘Hill Top. Our hike took us about 6 miles, from Wray Castle to…
On our drive up to Ludlow, Shropshire, from Hampshire, we stopped in at Berrington Hall, a National Trust Property. My folks are members, of the National Trust UK, and if I lived in the UK I would definitely be joining up too (it would be a dream to work for them!). Growing up in England…
Driving up to Ludlow, from Hampshire, we made a stop at the spectacular Gloucester Cathedral. It is steeped in history, having been a place of worship, in some form or another, for close on 1,000 years! Gloucester’s great Cloister, over 650 years old, is famous for its breath-taking fan vaulting, the earliest of its kind…
Windsor is a short drive from my folks home, in North Hampshire, and a few days after landing in the UK they took us to see Windsor Castle. We didn’t have time to look around the inside of the castle, but young Alice, aged 6, was more than content. She was delighted to have a…
Pokemon Go hit New Zealand just prior to the winter school holiday break of 2016. The weather was surprisingly good and all of a sudden parents found that children were actually KEEN to GO OUTDOORS! Hubby and I were away in Australia with our three daughters, and found our phones suddenly turn into Pokemon Go…
It’s the day after I bid farewell to my dearest parents. As I write they are winging their way back to the UK, on the long-haul flights from New Zealand to the UK, via Singapore. A big part of me feels empty and numb, trying to stay focused and busy with my three daughters (in…
We visited Lake Ferry, on the south coast of the Wairarapa, over the New Year. It’s a place of incredible wild, rugged beauty and only a half hour drive from Martinborough. The small beach village, on the shores of Lake Onoke, is known for its fishing, particularly ‘white bait’, where Lake Onoke meets the sea….
The weather in Wellington this summer school holidays has so far been very kind to us and it’s been perfect for getting outdoors and exploring the copious number of regional parks, town belts walks and nature centres. Having my parents to visit, all the way from the UK, has been an extra motivator to get…
Gardens by the Bay, in Singapore, opened to the public in 2011. It is an amazing development, which brings to life a vision of creating a City in a Garden, as described in detail on the Gardens by the Bay website. Towering over the gardens is the ‘Supertree Grove‘, which made me think of the…